The present invention relates to a baked egg based product. More particularly, the present invention relates to a baked egg based product made to resemble a potato product such as a French fry that is baked and not fried.
Eggs are a very nutritious food source that have a high protein content and essentially no carbohydrate content. Shell eggs contain on average 65.5 weight percent water, 12 weight percent protein, 11 weight percent fat with the remainder being made up of other constituents (USDA Egg Grading Manual 1969. Agricultural Handbook No. 75). The popularity of eggs as a food source has increased with the increase in popularity of high protein/low carbohydrate diets.
Many people find staying on the strict high protein/low carbohydrate diet to be burdensome because most meals purchased at a restaurant include some form of carbohydrates, typically as a bread product or as a potato product. For instance, prior to consuming food from a fast food restaurant such as a hamburger, the dieter must remove the bun and cannot eat French fried potatoes that are typically sold along with the hamburger. As a result, most dieters on the low carbohydrate diets do not eat at fast food restaurants which can pose an inconvenience to people with busy schedules.
Because most restaurants do not have menu items that conform to the high protein/low carbohydrate diet, most dieters are forced to prepare their own food. With the busy and fast paced lifestyles of many people, there may not be enough time to prepare every meal. Therefore, the dieter may find it trying to maintain the high protein/low carbohydrate diet compatible with his/her lifestyle.
Further, maintaining the high protein/low carbohydrate diet can be difficult due to the limited number and types of food that can be consumed. The dieter can easily become bored with the limited selection and stray from the high protein/low carbohydrate diet. Many times the dieter may simply want a sandwich, an item that is not in compliance with the high protein/low carbohydrate diet because of the carbohydrates in the bread.
To accommodate the trend to the high protein/low carbohydrate diet, high protein/low carbohydrate breads are being sold to allow dieters to eat some bread products while staying on the strict diet. However, there is a need to develop high protein/low carbohydrate substitutes for potato based products, such as the popular French fry. There is a further need of developing a healthier product that is baked and not fried.